093_HB2909

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning schools.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by  changing
 5    Section 29-5 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/29-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5)
 7        Sec.  29-5.   Reimbursement  by State for transportation.
 8    Any  school  district,  maintaining  a  school,  transporting
 9    resident  pupils  to  another  school  district's  vocational
10    program, offered through a joint agreement  approved  by  the
11    State  Board of Education, as provided in Section 10-22.22 or
12    transporting its resident pupils to a school that which meets
13    the standards for recognition as  established  by  the  State
14    Board  of Education which provides transportation meeting the
15    standards of safety,  comfort,  convenience,  efficiency  and
16    operation  prescribed  by  the  State  Board of Education for
17    resident pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12
18    who: (a) reside at least 1  1/2  miles  as  measured  by  the
19    customary  route  of travel, from the school attended; or (b)
20    reside in  areas  where  conditions  are  such  that  walking
21    constitutes  a  hazard  to  the  safety  of  the  child  when
22    determined under Section 29-3; and (c) are transported to the
23    school  attended  from pick-up points at the beginning of the
24    school day and back again at the close of the school  day  or
25    transported  to  and  from  their assigned attendance centers
26    during the school day, shall be reimbursed by  the  State  as
27    hereinafter provided in this Section.
28        The  State  will  pay  the  cost of transporting eligible
29    pupils less the assessed valuation in a dual school  district
30    maintaining  secondary  grades  9  to  12  inclusive  times a
31    qualifying rate  of  .05%;  in  elementary  school  districts
 
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 1    maintaining grades K to 8 times a qualifying rate of .06%; in
 2    unit  districts maintaining grades K to 12 times a qualifying
 3    rate of .07%. To be  eligible  to  receive  reimbursement  in
 4    excess  of  4/5  of  the cost to transport eligible pupils, a
 5    school district shall have a Transportation Fund tax rate  of
 6    at  least  .12%.   If  a school district does not have a .12%
 7    Transportation Fund tax rate, the  amount  of  its  claim  in
 8    excess  of  4/5  of  the cost of transporting pupils shall be
 9    reduced  by  the  sum   arrived   at   by   subtracting   the
10    Transportation  Fund  tax rate from .12% and multiplying that
11    amount by the  districts  equalized  or  assessed  valuation,
12    provided,  that  in  no  case  shall said reduction result in
13    reimbursement of less than  4/5  of  the  cost  to  transport
14    eligible pupils.
15        The  minimum  amount  to be received by a district is $16
16    times the number of eligible pupils transported.
17        Any such district transporting resident pupils during the
18    school day to an area vocational  school  or  another  school
19    district's  vocational program more than 1 1/2 miles from the
20    school  attended,  as  provided  in  Sections  10-22.20a  and
21    10-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State  for  4/5  of  the
22    cost of transporting eligible pupils.
23        School  day  means that period of time which the pupil is
24    required to be in attendance for instructional purposes.
25        If a pupil is at a location within  the  school  district
26    other  than his residence for child care purposes at the time
27    for transportation to school, that location may be considered
28    for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles from  the  school
29    attended.
30        Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend
31    any  school  other than a public school shall show the number
32    of such children transported.
33        Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not  be
34    paid for the transportation of pupils for whom transportation
 
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 1    costs  are  claimed  for payment under other Sections of this
 2    Act.
 3        The allowable direct  cost  of  transporting  pupils  for
 4    regular,    vocational,    and    special   education   pupil
 5    transportation shall be limited to the sum  of  the  cost  of
 6    physical examinations required for employment as a school bus
 7    driver;  the salaries of full or part-time drivers and school
 8    bus  maintenance  personnel;  employee   benefits   excluding
 9    Illinois   municipal  retirement  payments,  social  security
10    payments,  unemployment  insurance  payments   and   workers'
11    compensation  insurance premiums; expenditures to independent
12    carriers who operate school buses; payments to  other  school
13    districts  for  pupil  transportation  services; pre-approved
14    contractual expenditures for computerized bus scheduling; the
15    cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and  other  supplies  necessary
16    for  the  operation  of  school buses; the cost of converting
17    buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient engines or  to
18    engines  which  use  alternative  energy sources; the cost of
19    travel to meetings and workshops conducted  by  the  regional
20    superintendent  or  the  State  Superintendent  of  Education
21    pursuant  to  the  standards  established by the Secretary of
22    State under Section 6-106 of the  Illinois  Vehicle  Code  to
23    improve the driving skills of school bus drivers; the cost of
24    maintenance  of  school  buses  including parts and materials
25    used;  expenditures  for  leasing  transportation   vehicles,
26    except  interest  and  service charges; the cost of insurance
27    and licenses for transportation  vehicles;  expenditures  for
28    the  rental  of transportation equipment; plus a depreciation
29    allowance of 20% for 5 years for school  buses  and  vehicles
30    approved  for  transporting  pupils  to and from school and a
31    depreciation  allowance  of  10%  for  10  years  for   other
32    transportation  equipment  so  used. In addition to the above
33    allowable  costs  school  districts  shall  also  claim   all
34    transportation  supervisory  salary costs, including Illinois
 
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 1    municipal retirement payments, and all transportation related
 2    building and building maintenance costs without limitation.
 3        Special education  allowable  costs  shall  also  include
 4    expenditures for the salaries of attendants or aides for that
 5    portion  of  the  time  they  assist special education pupils
 6    while in transit and  expenditures  for  parents  and  public
 7    carriers  for  transporting  special  education  pupils  when
 8    pre-approved by the State Superintendent of Education.
 9        Indirect  costs  shall  be  included in the reimbursement
10    claim for districts which own and operate  their  own  school
11    buses.   Such  indirect  costs  shall  include administrative
12    costs, or any costs attributable to transporting pupils  from
13    their  attendance  centers  to  another  school  building for
14    instructional purposes.  No school district  which  owns  and
15    operates  its  own  school  buses may claim reimbursement for
16    indirect costs which exceed 5% of the total allowable  direct
17    costs for pupil transportation.
18        The  State  Board  of  Education  shall prescribe uniform
19    regulations for determining the  above  standards  and  shall
20    prescribe   forms   of   cost  accounting  and  standards  of
21    determining reasonable depreciation. Such depreciation  shall
22    include  the  cost  of equipping school buses with the safety
23    features required by law or by  the  rules,  regulations  and
24    standards  promulgated  by  the State Board of Education, and
25    the  Department  of  Transportation  for   the   safety   and
26    construction of school buses provided, however, any equipment
27    cost  reimbursed  by  the  Department  of  Transportation for
28    equipping school buses with such safety  equipment  shall  be
29    deducted  from  the  allowable  cost  in  the  computation of
30    reimbursement under this Section in the  same  percentage  as
31    the cost of the equipment is depreciated.
32        On  or  before  July 10, annually, the board clerk or the
33    secretary of the  district  shall  certify  to  the  regional
34    superintendent  of schools upon forms prescribed by the State
 
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 1    Superintendent  of  Education  the   district's   claim   for
 2    reimbursement  for  the  school  year  ended  on June 30 next
 3    preceding.  The  regional  superintendent  of  schools  shall
 4    check  all transportation claims to ascertain compliance with
 5    the prescribed standards and upon his approval shall  certify
 6    not  later  than  July  25  to  the  State  Superintendent of
 7    Education the regional report of claims  for  reimbursements.
 8    The State Superintendent of Education shall check and approve
 9    the  claims  and prepare the vouchers showing the amounts due
10    for district reimbursement claims.  Beginning with  the  1977
11    fiscal  year,  the  State  Superintendent  of Education shall
12    prepare and transmit the first 3 vouchers to the  Comptroller
13    on   the   30th   day   of  September,  December  and  March,
14    respectively, and the final voucher, no later than June 15.
15        If   the   amount   appropriated    for    transportation
16    reimbursement  is  insufficient  to fund total claims for any
17    fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall  reduce  each
18    school  district's  allowable  costs  and  flat  grant amount
19    proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total
20    amount appropriated.
21        For purposes  of  calculating  claims  for  reimbursement
22    under  this  Section  for  any  school year beginning July 1,
23    1998, or thereafter, the equalized assessed valuation  for  a
24    school  district  used  to  compute  reimbursement  shall  be
25    computed in the same manner as it is computed under paragraph
26    (2) of subsection (G) of Section 18-8.05.
27        All  reimbursements  received  from  the  State  shall be
28    deposited into the district's transportation fund or into the
29    fund from which the allowable expenditures were made.
30        Notwithstanding any other provision of  law,  any  school
31    district  receiving  a  payment  under  this Section or under
32    Section 14-7.02, 14-7.02a,  or  14-13.01  of  this  Code  may
33    classify  all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
34    particular fiscal year or from general State aid pursuant  to
 
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 1    Section  18-8.05 of this Code as funds received in connection
 2    with any funding program for which it is entitled to  receive
 3    funds  from the State in that fiscal year (including, without
 4    limitation, any funding program referenced in this  Section),
 5    regardless  of  the  source  or  timing  of the receipt.  The
 6    district may not classify more funds  as  funds  received  in
 7    connection  with  the  funding  program  than the district is
 8    entitled to receive in that fiscal  year  for  that  program.
 9    Any classification by a district must be made by a resolution
10    of  its board of education.  The resolution must identify the
11    amount of any payments or general State aid to be  classified
12    under  this paragraph and must specify the funding program to
13    which the funds are to be treated as received  in  connection
14    therewith.    This   resolution  is  controlling  as  to  the
15    classification of funds referenced therein.  A certified copy
16    of the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
17    Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though
18    a copy of the resolution has  not  been  sent  to  the  State
19    Superintendent   of   Education  in  a  timely  manner.    No
20    classification under  this  paragraph  by  a  district  shall
21    affect  the  total  amount or timing of money the district is
22    entitled to receive under  this  Code.     No  classification
23    under  this  paragraph by a district shall in any way relieve
24    the district from or affect any requirements  that  otherwise
25    would  apply  with respect to that funding program, including
26    any accounting of funds by source, reporting expenditures  by
27    original  source  and  purpose,  reporting  requirements,  or
28    requirements of providing services.
29        Any  school  district  with a population of not more than
30    500,000 must deposit all funds received  under  this  Article
31    into  the  transportation  fund  and  use those funds for the
32    provision of transportation services.
33    (Source: P.A. 91-96, eff. 7-9-99; 92-568, eff. 6-26-02.)